From 2007-10, J.C. Romero was a stressful but successful reliever for the Phillies, posting a 2.60 ERA in 148 2/3 innings. For several years during that stretch Romero was, quantitatively, the best lefty specialist in baseball. For the Dontrelle Willis experiment to work, he must not face righties. During the four-year span lefties hit just .183 with a .294 on-base percentage and .268 slugging percentage off Romero. That .562 OPS from lefties meant that Romero turned all same-handed hitters into the 2011 version of Miguel Tejada or Brandon Inge. Righties fared much better, hitting .229/.399/.361. If lefties were Tejada or Inge, righties were to Romero the equivalent of Yunel Escobar or B.J. Upton.So it made no sense that in 2011 Romero faced 70 righties to just 46 lefties. The righties destroyed Romero, going 19 for 59 with eight doubles, a homer and ten walks to just five strikeouts. Lefties, of course, struggled, going 9 for 39 (all singles) with five walks and 14 strike...

You'll
also
receive Yardbarker's daily Top 10, featuring the best sports stories from around the web.
Customize your newsletter to get articles on your favorite sports and teams. And the best part? It's free!